Method and system for distributed transceivers and mobile device connectivity

ABSTRACT

A plurality of distributed transceivers in a mobile entity such as a car, a truck, an omnibus (bus), a trailer, a mobile home, train, bus, a forklift, construction equipment, a boat, a ship, and/or an aircraft, and/or one or more corresponding antenna arrays that are communicatively coupled to the distributed transceivers are configured to handle communication of one or more data streams among one or more of a plurality of wireless communication networks, one or more other mobile entities and/or one or more mobile communication devices. The data streams may be communicated utilizing the configured one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers and/or the one or more corresponding antenna arrays. The wireless communication networks includes a satellite network, a wireless wide area network, a wireless medium area network, a wireless local area network, a wireless personal area network, a network cloud and/or the Internet.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application makes reference to, claims priority to and claims the benefit of:

-   U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/725,005, which was filed on     Nov. 11, 2012; and -   U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/680,872, which was filed on     Aug. 8, 2012.

This application also makes reference to:

-   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/473,096, which was filed on May 16,     2012, now published as U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0094439; -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/473,144, which was filed on May 16,     2012, now published as U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0095747; -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/473,105, which was filed on May 16,     2012, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,817,678; -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/473,160, which was filed on May 16,     2012, now published as U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0095874; -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/473,180, which was filed on May 16,     2012, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,780,943; -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/473,113, which was filed on May 16,     2012, now published as U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0094544; -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/473,083, which was filed on May 16,     2012, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,037,094; -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/919,922, which was filed on Jun. 17,     2013, now published as U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0044041; -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/919,958, which was filed on Jun. 17,     2013, now published as U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0044042; -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/919,967, which was filed on Jun. 17,     2013, now published as U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0045478; and -   U.S. application Ser. No. 13/919,972, which was filed on Jun. 17,     2013, now published as U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0044043;

Each of the above referenced application is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to wireless communication systems. More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to a method and system for distributed transceivers and mobile device connectivity.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Millimeter Wave (mmWave) devices are being utilized for high throughput wireless communications at very high carrier frequencies. There are several standards bodies such as, for example, 60 GHz wireless standard, WirelessHD, WiGig, and WiFi IEEE 802.11ad that utilize high frequencies such as the 60 GHz frequency spectrum for high throughput wireless communications. In the US, the 60 GHz spectrum band may be used for unlicensed short range data links such as data links within a range of 1.7 km, with data throughputs up to 6 Gbits/s. These higher frequencies may provide smaller wavelengths and enable the use of small high gain antennas. However, these higher frequencies may experience high propagation loss.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method is provided for distributed transceivers and mobile connectivity, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for providing connectivity via a plurality of distributed transceivers in a mobile entity, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an exemplary mobile entity, which comprises a plurality of internal and external distributed transceiver devices, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary communication utilizing a plurality of distributed transceivers in a mobile entity, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for communicating utilizing distributed transceivers in a mobile entity, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for communicating utilizing distributed transceivers in a mobile entity, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for communicating utilizing distributed transceivers in a mobile entity, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention may be found in a method and system for distributed transceivers and mobile connectivity. In various aspects of the invention, a plurality of distributed transceivers and/or one or more corresponding antenna arrays, which may be communicatively coupled to one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers, may be configured to handle communication of one or more data streams among one or more of a plurality of wireless communication networks, one or more other mobile entities and/or one or more mobile communication devices. The one or more data streams may be communicated utilizing the configured one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers and/or the one or more corresponding antenna arrays. The mobile entity may comprise a car, a truck, an omnibus (bus), a trailer, a mobile home, train, bus, a forklift, construction equipment, a boat, a ship, an aircraft or any other vehicle. Some embodiments may be applicable to scenarios where the mobile entity is a stationary entity/station or fixed entity/station. The plurality of wireless communication networks may comprise a satellite network, a wireless wide area network, a wireless medium area network, a wireless local area network, a wireless personal area network, a network cloud and/or the Internet. Configuring of the one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers and/or the one or more corresponding antenna arrays may be controlled from a component and/or within one or more of the mobile entities, the one or more other mobile entities, the one or more mobile communication devices and/or one or more of the wireless communication networks.

In some embodiments of the invention, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers may be configured to operate as a relay node and/or a repeater node. A location, speed and/or trajectory of the mobile entity may be determined and one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers and/or one or more corresponding antenna arrays may be configured based on the determined location, speed and/or trajectory. One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers may be dynamically and/or adaptively controlled to utilize one or more modes of operation to communicate the one or more data streams and/or to split the communication of the one or more data streams amongst a portion of the plurality of distributed transceivers. The modes of operation may comprise a spatial diversity mode, a frequency diversity mode, a spatial multiplexing mode, a frequency multiplexing mode and/or a MIMO mode.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, traffic may be backhauled from the mobile entity and/or the one or more other mobile entities via one or more wireless communication links to one or more of the plurality of wireless communication networks. One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers in the mobile entity and/or the one or more other mobile entities may be configured to utilize different types of communication links to handle different types of data traffic. One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers in the mobile entity and/or one or more of a plurality of distributed transceivers in the one or more other mobile entities may be configured to utilize different modulation schemes, constellations, protocols, frequencies, wireless standards and/or bandwidths to handle the communication of the one or more data streams.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for providing connectivity via a plurality of distributed transceivers in a mobile entity, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a network 100 comprising a satellite network 110, a wireless wide area network (WWAN) 112, a wireless local area network (WLAN) 114, the Internet 116 and a cloud network 118. FIG. 1 also shows mobile entities 120, 150, a tablet 122 a, a smartphone 122 b, a ultrabook 122 c and a plurality of communication links 130 a, 130 b, . . . , 130 n, 132 a, . . . , 132 n, 134 a, . . . , 134 n, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140 a, 140 b, . . . , 140 n. The tablet 122 a, the smartphone 122 b and the ultrabook 122 c may be collectively referenced as communication devices.

The satellite network 110 may comprise a satellite ground station 109 and a plurality of satellites 110 a, . . . , 110 n that may be operable to convey content to a plurality of receiving devices. In this regard, the satellite ground station 109 may comprise suitable devices having various logic, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to transmit content to the satellites 110 a, . . . , 110 n. The satellites 110 a, . . . , 110 n may be operable to broadcast the corresponding received content, which may be received by a plurality of receiving devices. For example, a plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n in the mobile entity 120 may be operable to receive the signals that are broadcast from one or more of the satellites 110 a, . . . , 110 n. The content may be processed and/or communicated to one or more of the tablet 122 a, the smartphone 122 b, and/or ultrabook 122 c via one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n. In some embodiments of the invention, the content may be processed and/or communicated to one or more of the base stations 112 a, 112 b, . . . , 112 n in the WWAN 112, the access points 114 a, 114 b, . . . , 114 n in the WLAN 114 and/or to another mobile entity such as the mobile entity 150. In some embodiments of the invention, the content may be processed and/or communicated or relayed from one or more of a plurality of the distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n, which are located in the mobile entity 120 to one or more of a plurality of distributed transceivers 150 a, 150 b, . . . , 150 n, which are located in the mobile entity 150. In some embodiments, the satellite 110 a in FIG. 1 may deploy distributed transceivers to provide higher capacity (multiple streams in the same frequency) to the mobile entity 120. In this case, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention, phase condition optimization (e.g., θ₁₂−θ₁₁+θ₂₁−θ₂₂=(2n+1)×180°) may be performed over a plurality of distributed transceivers at the satellite 110 a and the mobile entity 120.

The wireless wide area network (WWAN) 112 may comprise suitable logic, interfaces and/or devices that may be operable to provide wide area wireless connectivity. In this regard, the wireless wide area network 112 may enable communication via one or more WWAN based standards and/or protocols such as 3G, 4G, LTE and WiMax. The WWAN 112 may comprise a plurality of base stations, namely, base stations 112 a, 112 b, . . . , 112 n and a WWAN switch (S) 113. Content from the one or more of the Internet 116, the cloud network 118, the WWAN 112 and/or the WLAN 114 may be communicated among one or more of the tablet 122 a, the smartphone 122 b, and/or ultrabook 122 c via one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n in the mobile entity 120 via one or more of the plurality of base stations 112 a, 112 b, . . . , 112 n. In some embodiments of the invention, the plurality of base stations 112 a, 112 b, . . . , 112 n may each deploy distributed transceivers. In some embodiments of the invention, the content may be processed and/or communicated among one or more of the tablet 122 a, the smartphone 122 b, and/or ultrabook 122 c via the gateway 115 and one or more of the access points 114 a, 114 b, . . . , 114 n, which are in the WLAN 114. In some embodiments of the invention, the content may be processed and/or communicated or relayed from one or more of a plurality of the distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n, which are located in the mobile entity 120 to one or more of a plurality of the distributed transceivers 150 a, 150 b, . . . , 150 n, which are located in the mobile entity 150.

The WWAN switch 113 may comprise suitable logic, interfaces and/or devices that may be operable to provide switching and/or routing functionality for the WWAN 112. The WWAN switch 113 may be communicatively coupled to the Internet via the communication link 135, which may comprise a wired, wireless and/or optical communication link. The WWAN switch 113 may be operable to route traffic from one or more of the base stations 112 a, 112 b, . . . , 112 n to the Internet 116 via the communication link 135. The base station 112 n may be operable to provide service to the gateway 115 via the communication link 139, which may comprise a wireless WWAN communication link.

The wireless local area network (WLAN) 114 may comprise suitable logic, interfaces and/or devices that may be operable to provide local area wireless connectivity. In this regard, the wireless local area network (WLAN) 114 may enable communication via IEEE 802.11 based standards and/or protocols such as 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/p/q and/or variants thereof. The WLAN 114 may comprise a plurality of access points, namely, access points 114 a, . . . , 114 n and a gateway (GW) 115.

Each of the access points 114 a, . . . , 114 n may comprise suitable logic, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to provide wireless access to the WLAN 114. The access points 114 a, . . . , 114 n may be communicatively coupled to the gateway 115 via one or more wired, wireless and/or optical links. The access points 114 a, . . . , 114 n may be operable to communicate via, for example, IEEE 802.11 based standards such as 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/p/q and/or variants thereof and/or via mmWave standards and/or technologies, such as 60 GHz wireless standard, WirelessHD, WiGig, WiFi, and/or IEEE 802.11ad. The access points 114 a, . . . , 114 n may enable communication between the WLAN 114 and one or more of the transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n, which are located in the mobile entity 120, when the mobile entity 120 is within operating range of one or more of the access points 114 a, . . . , 114 n. In some embodiments of the invention, access points 114 a, . . . , 114 n may each deploy distributed transceivers. In some embodiments, access points 114 a, . . . , 114 n may use the methods disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 13/919,922, now published as U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0044041, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, to operate and/or control a set of distributed access points with distributed transceivers.

The gateway 115 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to provide connectivity between the access points 114 a, . . . , 114 n and one or more networks such as the Internet 116. The gateway 115 may be operable to wirelessly communicate with the access points 114 a, . . . , 114 n via IEEE 802.11 based standards such as 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/p/q and/or variants thereof. The gateway 115 may be operable to communicate with the access points 114 a, . . . , 114 n utilizing wired based standards such as 802.3 and variants thereof. The gateway 115 may also be communicatively coupled to the WWAN 112. In this regard, the gateway 115 may also be communicatively coupled to the base station WWAN 112 n via the communication link 139. The communication link 139 may comprise, for example, a wireless communication link.

The Internet 116 may comprise suitable devices and/or interfaces that enable the interconnection of a plurality of networks and/or devices. In this regard, the Internet 116 may enable the interconnection of, for example, the satellite network 110, the WWAN 112, the WLAN 114, and the cloud network 118. The Internet 116 may host a plurality of resources such as the server 116 a and provide a plurality of Internet-based services.

The cloud network 118 may comprise suitable devices and/or interfaces that are operable to provide one or more services to, for example, the satellite network 110, the WWAN 112, the WLAN 114 and/or to the communication devices, for example, the tablet 122 a, the smartphone 122 b and the ultrabook 122 c. In this regard, the cloud network 118 may, for example, provide storage of information, hosting of information and/or other services for the satellite network 110, the WWAN 112, the WLAN 114, the tablet 122 a, the smartphone 122 b and/or the ultrabook 122 c via the Internet 116. The cloud network 118 may be communicatively coupled to the Internet 116 via the communication link 138. The cloud network 118 may host a plurality of resources such as the server 118 a and provide a plurality of cloud-based services.

The mobile entity 120 may comprise, for example, an automobile such as a car, a truck, an omnibus (bus), a trailer, a mobile home and/or train. The mobile entity 120 may also comprise an aircraft or other type of mobile entity. The mobile entity 120 may comprise a plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n. In some embodiments of the invention, the mobile entity 120 may be a semi-stationary or fixed entity (providing the same functionalities and features as the mobile case). For example, it may be installed on a lamp pole, a structure such as a building and/or a roof top. It may be installed, operated, and maintained by a cellular, cable or broadband service provider (e.g., AT&T) or an end user or consumer.

Each of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n, which are located in the mobile entity 120, may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to provide wireless communication as the mobile entity 120 is moving or is stationary. One or more of the distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may be operable to communicate with the WWAN 112, the WLAN 114 and/or the satellite network 110. In this regard, one or more of the distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may be operable to communicate with the WWAN 112 utilizing a WWAN protocol and/or standard, for example, 3G, 4G, LTE and WiMax. One or more the distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may be operable to communicate with the WLAN 114 utilizing, for example, a WLAN protocol and/or standard, which may comprise an IEEE 802.11 based standard such as 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/p/q and/or variants thereof. One or more the distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may also be operable to communicate with the WLAN 114 utilizing, for example, a mmWave protocol and/or standard, which may comprise 60 GHz wireless standard, IEEE 802.11ad, WirelessHD, WiGig, and/or variants thereof. One or more the distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may also be operable to receive satellite signals from the satellite network 110 utilizing, for example, a mmWave protocol and/or standard, which may comprise 60 GHz wireless standard, IEEE 802.11ad, WirelessHD, WiGig, and/or variants thereof.

One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may be operable to communicate information between the communication devices 122 a, 122 b, . . . , 122 c and one or both of the Internet 116 and/or the cloud network 118. In this regard, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may be operable to communicate data between any of the communication devices 122 a, 122 b, . . . , 122 c and the Internet server 116 a and/or the cloud network server 118 a. The data may be communicated from any of the communication devices 122 a, 122 b, . . . , 122 c to the Internet server 116 a and/or the cloud network server 118 a via one or more of the satellite network 110, the WWAN 112, the WLAN 114 and/or the Internet 116.

One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may be located within the mobile entity 120 and/or one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may be located at various positions, locations and orientations outside of the mobile entity 120. In this regard, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may be operable to communicate with one or more of the satellite network 110, the WWAN 112, the WLAN 114, the Internet 116 and/or the cloud network 118. Similarly, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 150 a, 150 b, . . . , 150 n may be located within the mobile entity 150 and/or one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 150 a, 150 b, . . . , 150 n may be located at various positions, locations and orientations outside of the mobile entity 150. In this regard, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 150 a, 150 b, . . . , 150 n may be operable to communicate with one or more of the satellite network 110, the WWAN 112, the WLAN 114, the Internet 116 and/or the cloud network 118. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n, which may be located on the outside of the mobile entity 120 may be operable to relay signals and/or otherwise communicate with one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 150 a, 150 b, . . . , 150 n in the mobile entity 150. One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n, which may be located within the mobile entity 120 may be operable to communicate with communication devices that are located within the mobile entity 120. Similarly, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 150 a, 150 b, . . . , 150 n, which may be located within the mobile entity 150 may be operable to communicate with communication devices that are located within the mobile entity 150.

The tablet 122 a may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to communicate with one or more of the distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n. In this regard, the tablet 122 a may be operable to communicate utilizing, for example, WWAN, WMAN, WLAN, WPAN and/or mmWave technologies, standards and/or protocols. Exemplary, WWAN technologies, standards and/or protocols may comprise 3G, 4G, LTE, and/or WiMax. Exemplary WLAN technologies, standards and/or protocols may comprise an IEEE 802.11 based standard such as 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/p/q and/or variants thereof. Exemplary mmWave technologies, standards and/or protocols may comprise 60 GHz wireless standard, IEEE 802.11ad, WirelessHD and/or WiGig. In some embodiments of the invention, the tablet 122 a may deploy distributed transceivers for any of the protocols and/or carrier frequencies.

The smartphone 122 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to communicate with one or more of the distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n. In this regard, the smartphone 122 b may be operable to communicate utilizing, for example, WWAN, WMAN, WLAN, WPAN and/or mmWave technologies, standards and/or protocols. Exemplary, WWAN technologies, standards and/or protocols may comprise 3G, 4G, LTE, and/or WiMax. Exemplary WLAN technologies, standards and/or protocols may comprise an IEEE 802.11 based standards such as 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/p/q and/or variants thereof. Exemplary mmWave technologies, standards and/or protocols may comprise 60 GHz wireless standard, IEEE 802.11ad, WirelessHD and/or WiGig. In some embodiments of the invention, the smartphone 122 b may deploy distributed transceivers for any of the protocols and/or carrier frequencies.

The ultrabook 122 c may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to communicate with one or more of the distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n. In this regard, the ultrabook 122 c may be operable to communicate utilizing, for example, WWAN, WMAN, WLAN, WPAN and/or mmWave technologies, standards and/or protocols. Exemplary, WWAN technologies, standards and/or protocols may comprise 3G, 4G, LTE, and/or WiMax. Exemplary WLAN technologies, standards and/or protocols may comprise an IEEE 802.11 based standard such as 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/p/q and/or variants thereof. Exemplary mmWave technologies, standards and/or protocols may comprise 60 GHz wireless standard, IEEE 802.11ad, WirelessHD and/or WiGig. Although an ultrabook is illustrated, the invention in not necessarily limited in this regard. Accordingly, other similar devices such as a laptop or tablet may be utilized without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In some embodiments of the invention, the ultrabook 122 c may deploy distributed transceivers for any of the protocols and/or carrier frequencies.

The mobile entity 150 may comprise, for example, an automobile such as a car, a truck, an omnibus (bus), a trailer, a mobile home, train, bus, a forklift, construction equipment, a boat, a ship, an aircraft or any other vehicle. The mobile entity 120 may also comprise an aircraft or other type of mobile entity. The mobile entity 150 may comprise a plurality of distributed transceivers 150 a, 150 b, . . . , 150 n. The mobile entity 150 and the plurality of distributed transceivers 150 a, 150 b, . . . , 150 n may be substantially similar to the mobile entity 120 and the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n, respectively. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n in the mobile entity 120 may be operable to communicate or relay content among one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 150 a, 150 b, . . . , 150 n in the mobile entity 150.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, the distributed transceivers such as the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n, which are located within the mobile entity 120 may be operable to communicate with other networks such as the satellite network 110, the WWAN 112, the WLAN 114, the Internet 116 and/or the cloud network 118. The distributed transceivers such as the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may also be operable to communicate with one or more of the communication devices 122 a, 122 b, . . . , 122 c. In this regard, for example, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may be operable to communicate content among one or more of the communication devices 122 a, 122 b, . . . , 122 c and/or the Internet 116 and/or the cloud network 118.

In some embodiments of the invention, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may be operable to function as a repeater and/or a relay. In this regard, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may be operable to act as a repeater and/or a relay to communicate signals between one or more of the satellite network 110, the WWAN 112, the WLAN 114, the Internet 116 and/or the cloud network 118 and one or more of the mobile entity 150, the tablet 122 a, the smartphone 122 b and/or the ultrabook 122 c. The repeater and/or relay functionality of the one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n may be operable when the mobile entry 120 may be stationary or when the mobile entity 120 may be moving.

The reference to 60 GHz wireless connectivity is intended to include all mmWave frequency bands (any carrier frequency above 10 GHz, e.g., 38.6-40 GHz, 59-67 GHz, 71-76 GHz, 92-95 GHz bands). Furthermore, all or a subset of embodiments are applicable to sub-10 GHz carrier frequency operations as well (e.g., 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz ISM bands).

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an exemplary mobile entity, which comprises a plurality of internal and external distributed transceiver devices, in accordance with exemplary an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a mobile entity 200 comprising a plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n. Each of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may comprise a corresponding antenna array 205 a, 205 b, 205 c, 205 d, 205 e, 205 f, . . . , 205 n. The mobile entity 200 may comprise a central processor 206 and/or an optional network management engine 208. Reference number 201 represents an interior of the mobile entity 200 and reference number 202 represents an exterior of the mobile entity 200. The distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, and 204 n may be located on and/or at the exterior of the mobile entity 200. The distributed transceivers 204 e, 204 f may be located at the interior of the mobile entity 200.

The mobile entity 200 may comprise, for example, an automobile such as a car, a truck, boat, ship, an omnibus (bus), a trailer, a mobile home, train, a forklift, construction equipment, an aircraft or any other type of vehicle. The mobile entity 200 may be substantially similar to the mobile entity 120, which is illustrated and described with respect to FIG. 1, for example.

In some embodiments of the invention, the connection access through the mobile entity 200 may be utilized as a means of conserving battery power for mobile communication devices. Mobile communication devices that are communicatively coupled to the mobile entity 200 as opposed to being direct communicatively coupled to a base station 112 a, an access point 114 a and/or satellite 110 a via the WWAN 112, the WLAN 114, the satellite network 110, respectively, may require less transmit power and less receive processing power, thereby saving their battery power. A network operator may therefore prioritize how the mobile communication devices with low battery charge are communicatively coupled and allow them to connect to the mobile entities, for example the mobile entity 120 of FIG. 1, which have distributed transceivers as opposed to connecting directly to a base station such as the base station 112 a in the WWAN 112. In some embodiments the network operator may periodically poll the remaining battery levels of entities 122 a, 122 b, . . . , 122 c to reconfigure the network configuration per some embodiments of this invention.

Each of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to provide wireless communication when the mobile entity 200 may be moving or may be stationary. One or more of the distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may be operable to communicate with one or more network such as the WWAN 112, the WLAN 114 and/or the satellite network 110, which are shown and described with respect to FIG. 1, for example. In this regard, one or more the distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may be operable to communicate with the WWAN 112 utilizing a WWAN protocol and/or standard, for example, 3G, 4G, LTE and WiMax. One or more the distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may be operable to communicate with the WLAN 114 utilizing, for example, a WLAN protocol and/or standard, which may comprise an IEEE 802.11 based standard such as 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/p/q and/or variants thereof. One or more the distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may also be operable to communicate with the WLAN 114 utilizing, for example, a mmWave protocol and/or standard, which may comprise 60 GHz wireless standard, IEEE 802.11ad, WirelessHD, WiGig, and/or variants thereof. One or more of the distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may also be operable to receive satellite signals from the satellite network 110 utilizing, for example, a mmWave protocol and/or standard, which may comprise 60 GHz wireless standard, IEEE 802.11ad, WirelessHD, WiGig, and/or variants thereof. In some embodiments of the invention, the transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may only perform radio-frequency up-conversion/down-conversion and/or beamforming functions. In this case, the interface to the transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n from the central processor 206 will be an analog or radio-frequency or intermediate-frequency signal. In this case, digital processing (e.g. modulation/demodulation, equalization, encoding/decoding) for the transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may be performed centrally at the central processor 206.

One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may also be operable to communicate information between the communication devices 122 and one or both of the Internet 111 and/or the cloud network 118, which are shown and described with respect to FIG. 1, for example. In this regard, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may be operable to communicate data between any of the communication devices 122 a, 122 b, . . . , 122 c and the Internet server 116 a and/or the cloud network server 118 a. The data may be communicated from any of the communication devices 122 a, 122 b, . . . , 122 c to the Internet server 116 a and/or the cloud network server 118 a via one or more of the satellite network 110, the WWAN 112, the WLAN 114 and/or the Internet 116. The plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may be substantially similar to the plurality of distributed transceivers 120 a, 120 b, . . . , 120 n, which are shown and described with respect to FIG. 1, for example.

In general, the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may be placed at different points and/or orientations within and/or on the mobile entity 200. In this regard, some of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may be placed and/or oriented so that they may be facing the outside of the mobile entity 200, where they may provide good antenna patterns for outside connections. Others of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may be placed and/or oriented so that they may be facing the inside the mobile entity 200, where they may provide good radiation patterns to relay data to/from devices inside the mobile entity 200. Some of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n that may be placed and/or oriented so that they may be facing the outside of the mobile entity 200 may be located at the left side, right side, top, bottom, front and/or rear of the mobile entity 200. The positioning of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n at different points and/or orientations within and/or on the mobile entity 200 may ensure that at any direction/orientation of the mobile entity 200, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may possess good propagation characteristics to one or more of the satellite network 110, the WWAN 112, the WLAN 114, other mobile entities such as the mobile entity 150, and/or one or more of the communication devices 122.

In some instances, the distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, and 204 n, which may be located on and/or at the exterior of the mobile entity 200 may be more suitable to provide communication with devices that are located within the satellite network 110, the WWAN 112 and/or the WLAN 114 due to less obstruction, configuration, orientation, position and so on. Similarly, in some instances, the distributed transceivers 204 e, 204 f, which may be located at the interior of the mobile entity 200, may be more suitable to provide communication with communication devices that are located within the mobile entity 200 due to less obstruction configuration, orientation, position and so on. In this regard, the central processor 206 may be operable to control which one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . 204 n may be utilized to provide communication with the satellite network 110, the WWAN 112 and/or the WLAN 114, communication devices 122 and/or other mobile entities.

In various exemplary embodiments of the invention, the distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c may be located at the uppermost portion of the mobile entity 200. Accordingly, the distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c may be more suitable for communication with the satellite network 110, the WWAN 112 and/or the WLAN 114. The distributed transceiver 204 n may be located at a forward position of the mobile entity 200 and the distributed transceiver 204 d may be located at the rearward position of the mobile entity 200. Accordingly, the distributed transceivers 204 d, 204 n may be more suitable to provide communication with other mobile entities that may be towards the front or rear of the mobile entity, respectively. In this regard, the distributed transceiver 204 d, 204 n may be more suitable for handling repeating and/or relaying functionalities for other mobile entities while the mobile entity 200 may be in motion. The distributed transceivers 204 e, 204 f, which may be located inside mobile entity 200 may be best suited for providing communication within the mobile entity 200. In instances where one or more of the distributed transceivers 204 e, 204 f, which may be located within the mobile entity 200 may also be capable of providing communication with devices that may be external to the mobile entity 200, the central processor 206 may be operable to configure one or both of the distributed transceivers 204 e, 204 f, accordingly. In some embodiments of the invention, the NME 208 identifies whether a mobile device is located inside the mobile entity 200 (using positioning techniques based on signal strength, angle of arrival, etc or using any other sensors within 200). In such cases, the NME configures the network configuration such that a transceiver unit (e.g., 204 f) facing the 200's interior is used and enabled to provide connection to that mobile device.

Each of the plurality of antenna arrays 205 a, 205 b, 205 c, 205 d, 205 e, 205 f, . . . , 205 n in the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n, respectively, may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to handle communication of wireless signals. For example, each of the plurality of antenna arrays 205 a, 205 b, 205 c, 205 d, 205 e, 205 f, . . . , 205 n in the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n may be operable to transmit and/or receive wireless signals corresponding to the WPAN, WLAN, WMAN, WWAN and/or mmWave technologies, standards and/or protocols. One or more of the plurality of antenna arrays 205 a, 205 b, 205 c, 205 d, 205 e, 205 f, . . . , 205 n may be operable to receive satellite signals from the satellites 110 a, . . . 110 n in the satellite network 110.

One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . 204 n may be communicatively coupled to one or more central processors such as the central processor 206 via one or more communication links. In this regard, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . 204 n may be communicatively coupled to the central processor 206 via a wired communication link, a wireless communication link, an optical communication link and/or another type of communication link such as a hybrid fiber coaxial communication link. Alternatively, a digital link (e.g., Ethernet) may be used between the transceivers and the central processor 206 if the transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . 204 n include analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion functions. One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . 204 n may be operable to support a set of carrier frequencies, for example, 2 GHz, 5 GHz, 60 GHz, and so on and/or one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . 204 n may be operable to support specific carrier frequencies, which may be dedicated to certain frequencies.

The central processor 206 in the mobile entity 200 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to control and/or manage operation of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n and/or corresponding plurality of antenna arrays 205 a, 205 b, 205 c, 205 d, 205 e, 205 f, . . . , 205 n in the mobile entity 200. In this regard, the central processor 206 may be operable to configure and/or manage the communication links that are handled by the mobile entity 200. The central processor 206 may also be operable to monitor and/or collect information from each of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n and communicate data associated with the monitoring and/or collecting to the network management engine 208. The network management engine 208 may be operable to utilize the resulting communicated data to configure the operation of one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n and/or corresponding plurality of antenna arrays 205 a, 205 b, 205 c, 205 d, 205 e, 205 f, . . . , 205 n.

The optional network management engine 208 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to manage communication resources within the mobile entity 200 and/or other devices that may be communicatively coupled to one or more of the distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n. The network management engine 208 may be operable to communicate with the central processor 206 in the mobile entity 200 in order to manage and communication resources within the mobile entity 200 and/or other devices, which may be communicatively coupled to one or more of the distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n. In some embodiments of the invention, the NME unit 208 may physically reside in a remote device or server, and be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination.

U.S. application Ser. No. 13/919,922, now published as U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0044041, which was filed on 2013, discloses additional details of a central processor and a network management ending and is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary communication utilizing a plurality of distributed transceivers in a mobile entity, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3, there are shown network 300, which comprises a plurality of mobile entities 301, 304, 307, a mobile communication device 310, a coordinating entity 312 and a plurality of communication networks that are collectively referenced as 330. The plurality of communication networks 330 may comprise a satellite network 320, a WWAN 322, a WLAN 324, the Internet 326 and a cloud network 328. FIG. 3 also illustrates exemplary wireless communication links 351 a, . . . , 351 n, links 352 a, . . . , 352 n, and communication links 353.

Each of the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 may comprise, for example, an automobile such as a car, a truck, an omnibus (bus), a trailer, a mobile home train, a forklift, construction equipment, an aircraft or any other type of vehicle. Each of the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 may comprise a plurality of distributed transceivers, a central processor and a network management engine. In this regard, the mobile entity 301 comprises a plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n, a network management engine 302 and a central processor 303. The mobile entity 304 comprises a plurality of distributed transceivers 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, . . . , 304 n, a network management engine 305 and a central processor 306. The mobile entity 307 comprises a plurality of distributed transceivers 307 a, 307 b, 307 c, . . . , 307 n, a network management engine 308 and a central processor 309.

The mobile entity 301 and the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n may be substantially similar to the mobile entity 200 and the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n, which are shown and described with respect to FIG. 2, for example. One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n in the mobile entity 301 may be operable to communicate or relay content among one or more of the communication networks 300, the mobile entity 307 and/or the mobile communication device 310. The mobile entity 304 and the plurality of distributed transceivers 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, . . . , 304 n may be substantially similar to the mobile entity 200 and the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n, which are shown and described with respect to FIG. 2, for example. One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, . . . , 304 n in the mobile entity 304 may be operable to communicate or relay content among one or more of the communication networks 300, the mobile entity 301 and/or the mobile communication device 310. The mobile entity 307 and the plurality of distributed transceivers 307 a, 307 b, 307 c, . . . , 307 n may be substantially similar to the mobile entity 200 and the plurality of distributed transceivers 204 a, 204 b, 204 c, 204 d, 204 e, 204 f, . . . , 204 n, which are shown and described with respect to FIG. 2, for example. One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 307 a, 307 b, 307 c, . . . , 307 n in the mobile entity 307 may be operable to communicate or relay content among one or more of the communication networks 300 the mobile entities 301, 304 and/or the mobile communication device 310.

Each of the central processors 303, 306, 309 in the mobile entities 301, 304, 307, respectively, may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to control and/or manage operation of the plurality of distributed transceivers in the mobile entities 301, 304, 307, respectively. In this regard, the central processors 303, 306, 309 in the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 may be operable to control and/or manage operation of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n, 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, . . . , 304 n, 307 a, 307 b, 307 c, . . . , 307 n, respectively. Each of the central processors 303, 306, 309 may be operable to configure and/or manage the communication links that are handled by the mobile entities 301, 304, 307, respectively. Each of the central processors 303, 306, 309 may be operable to monitor and/or collect information from each of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n, 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, . . . , 304 n, 307 a, 307 b, 307 c, . . . , 307 n, respectively, and communicate data associated with the monitoring and/or collecting to one or more of the network management engines 302, 305, 308. One or more of the network management engines 302, 305, 308 may be operable to utilize the resulting communicated data to configure the operation of one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n, 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, . . . , 304 n, 307 a, 307 b, 307 c, . . . , 307 n and/or their corresponding plurality of antenna arrays. Each of the central processors 303, 306, 309 in the mobile entities 301, 304, 307, respectively, may be substantially similar to the central processor 206, which is shown and described with respect to FIG. 2, for example.

Each of the network management engines 302, 305, 308, which may be located in the mobile entities 301, 304, 307, respectively, may be operable to configure the corresponding distributed transceivers within the corresponding mobile entity. In this regard, for example, the network management engines 302, 305, 308 may be operable to determine which one or more of the distributed transceivers may be activated and/or deactivated, and/or the carrier frequency and/or frequencies, beam patterns, modulations, security, power that may be utilized by one or more of the distributed transceivers. Although the network management engines 302, 305, 308 are illustrated as being located in the mobile entities 301, 304, 307, respectively, the invention is not limited in this regard. Accordingly, the network management engines 302, 305, 308 may logically or physically reside as separate components or devices, and/or may be located within other components or devices within the network 300. For example, network management engines such as the network management engines 302, 305, 308 may be located in and/or within devices within the WWAN 322, the WLAN 324, the Internet 326 and/or the cloud network 328. For example, network management engines such as the network management engines 302, 305, 308 may be located in the base stations 112 a, 112 b, . . . , 112 n, of the WWAN 114, which are shown and described with respect to FIG. 1. In another example, network management engines such as the network management engines 302, 305, 308 may be located in the access points 114 a, 114 b, . . . , 114 n, of the WLAN 114, which are shown and described with respect to FIG. 1, for example. In some embodiments of the invention, network management engines 302, 305, 308 may be coordinated, managed, arbitrated, and/or overridden by the coordinating entity 312.

The network management engines such as the network management engines 302, 305, 308, which may be located in the mobile entities 301, 304, 307, respectively, may be operable to utilize different types of data to configure the settings and/or operation of one or more of the distributed transceivers. Exemplary types of data may comprise the global navigational satellite system (GNSS) location of the mobile entity, the speed of the mobile entity, and motion sensor data. The network management engines such as the network management engines 302, 305, 308, may be operable to utilize the different types of data to predict the trajectory and/or orientation of the corresponding mobile entity and the resulting predicted information may be utilized to adjust one or more of the settings and/or configurations for one or more of the distributed transceivers in the network 300. The adjustment of one or more of the settings and/or configurations for one or more of the distributed transceivers in the network 300 may be done in advance to guarantee a good link performance. Exemplary GNSS data may comprise data from global positioning system (GPS), Galileo and/or GLONASS. Exemplary speed data may be derived from GNSS and/or speedometer and so on. Exemplary motion sensor data may be derived from accelerometers and/or gyroscopes and so on. In some embodiments of the invention where non-stationary satellite orbits may be utilized, the moving locations and known speed vectors of satellites may be utilized to predict the relative trajectories of satellites and the mobile entities and adjust the beam patterns utilized by one or more of the distributed transceivers in the network 300 in advance.

In some embodiments of the invention, the network management engine within a mobile entity and/or the coordinating entity 312 may be operable to effect changes in the carrier frequency that is being utilized by one or more of the distributed transceivers. In this regard, for example, the network management engine 302 in the mobile entity 301 and/or the coordinating entity 312 may be operable to cause a change in the carrier frequency that is being utilized by one or more of the distributed transceivers to handle communication links with the satellite network 320 based on current or predicted weather conditions. For example, a switch may be made to utilize one or more better carrier frequencies based on humidity, rain, temperature, pressure, environmental emergency, and so on.

In some embodiments of the invention, a set of distributed transceivers within a mobile entity may be linked to concurrently handle multiple available satellites. For example, the distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d in the mobile entity 301 may be linked to concurrently handle traffic from a plurality of satellites in the satellite network 320. The concurrent communication links may be utilized to transport different data streams to provide a higher throughput and/or to transport the same data stream in order to provide diversity, reliability and link margin.

In some embodiments of the invention, when acting as a relay node, the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 may be operable to configure different ones of their corresponding distributed transceivers and/or utilize different configurations for handling external communication links. For example, the mobile entity may be operable to utilize a first set of distributed transceivers and/or frequencies to receive data on the downlink from the satellite network 320 while utilizing the first set of distributed transceivers and/or frequencies for transmitting data on the uplink to one or more base stations in the WWAN 322. In some embodiments of the invention, the network management engine 302 and/or the coordinating entity 312 may determine that different connection types may be utilized for handling the corresponding downlink. In this regard, the network management engine 302 and/or the coordinating entity 312 may determine that one or more communication links may be established with the satellite network 320 and utilized to download content from the Internet 326. Depending on the location of the mobile entity 301 and/or propagation conditions, in order to download the content from the Internet 326, the network management entity 302 may determine that one or more of the communication links that are currently being utilized by the mobile entity 301 may need to be switched in order to utilize one or more different distributed transceivers to connect to one or more base stations in the WWAN 322 and/or one or more access points in the WLAN 324. The switching of the downlink connection between the satellite network 320, the WWAN 322, and/or the WLAN 324 may occur dynamically and may be based on, for example, channel conditions, coverage, throughput demand, QoS, CoS. A subset of embodiments in U.S. application Ser. No. 13/473,144, now published as U.S. Patent Publication 2013/0095747, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A REPEATER NETWORK THAT UTILIZES DISTRIBUTED TRANSCEIVERS WITH ARRAY PROCESSING,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, may be applicable to this scenario.

In various embodiments of the invention, one or more of the distributed transceivers in one or more of the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 may be operable to sense the environment in which they operate. For example, one or more of the distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n, 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, . . . , 304 n, 307 a, 307 b, 307 c, . . . , 307 n may be operable to sense the environment in order to determine devices and/or objects in the environment, which may be utilized to establish or improve the link quality between mobile entities, mobile communication devices and/or network devices such as access points. These devices and/or objects in the environment may be planted in the environment for the purpose of network improvement and/or may be existing objects in the environment such as fixtures. These devices and/or objects in the environment may have different RF reflection and refraction and/or diffraction properties and may be utilized differently by one or more of the distributed transceivers to improve and/or optimize communication. Some devices and/or objects in the environment may possess good reflective properties with low reflection loss and/or refraction/diffraction and other devices and/or objects in the environment may possess good and/or controlled refraction and/or diffraction properties. The resulting information from the sensing may be communicated from one or more of the distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n, 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, . . . , 304 n, 307 a, 307 b, 307 c, . . . , 307 n to the network management engine 302 and/or the coordinating entity 312, which may be operable to analyze the corresponding information and determine appropriate configuration for one or more of the distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n, 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, . . . , 304 n, 307 a, 307 b, 307 c, . . . , 307 n and/or their corresponding antenna arrays.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, the network management engine 302 and/or the coordinating entity 312 may be operable to manage the combination of distributed transceiver resources within the mobile entity 301 in order to, for example, maximize and/or optimize the performance of the corresponding wireless communication links 351 a, . . . , 351 n, communication links 352 a, . . . , 352 n, and communication links 353. In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, the network management engine 302 and/or the coordinating entity 312 may be operable to coordinate operation of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n in the mobile entity 301, to provide, for example, spatial multiplexing, spatial diversity, frequency diversity, and/or multiple input multiple output (MIMO) processing. In this regard, the network management engine 302 and/or the coordinating entity 312 may be operable to combine or aggregate the distributed transceiver resources in the mobile entity 301 in order to program or configure the resulting pooled distributed transceiver resources to provide better performance over the communication links 351 a, . . . , 351 n, communication links 352 a, . . . , 352 n, and communication links 353. The network management engine 302 and/or the coordinating entity 312 may be operable to program or configure the resulting pooled distributed transceiver resources to provide different levels of coordination based on system restrictions and/or capabilities and/or based on channel characteristics, QoS, CoS, traffic type and so on. The network management engine 302 and/or the coordinating entity 312 may be operable to manage the combination of distributed transceiver resources within the mobile entities 304, 307 in a similar manner.

In some embodiments of the invention, the coordinating entity 312 may adopt a cost function as the criterion for configuration and optimization of the network. The coordinating entity 312 may then attempt to configure the entities in 300 (including all distributed transceivers) to optimize that cost function (minimize or maximize depending on the nature of the function). For example, one such cost function may be the total network capacity, i.e., combined/aggregated throughputs delivered to all end mobile devices. Another exemplary cost function may be the aggregated capacity delivered to a subset of end mobile devices (e.g., premium users). Another exemplary cost function may be the spectral efficiency achieved over licensed spectrums (to exclude unlicensed bands such as 2.4/5 GHz ISM bands). Yet another exemplary cost function may be a combination of projected battery lives of end users (i.e., their current consumption). Another cost function may be a combination of latency, diversity order, and reliability for a subset of users. Another exemplary cost function may be the worst throughput in the network (i.e., maximizing the minimum throughput). Another exemplary cost function may be the number of end users achieving a capacity/throughput above a programmable threshold. Yet another exemplary cost function may be a weighted combination of the above example functions. Furthermore, the coordinating entity 312 may dynamically and/or adaptively switch between different cost functions (optimization policies) based on parameters such as the number of active/connected devices, time of day, geographical location, time-dependent spectrum licenses, etc.

U.S. application Ser. No. 13/473,160, now published as U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0095874, which was filed May 16, 2012 discloses a method and system for providing diversity in a network of distributed transceivers with array processing and is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirely.

U.S. application Ser. No. 13/473,180, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,780,943, which was filed May 16, 2012 discloses a method and system that utilizes multiplexing in a network of distributed transceivers with array processing and is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirely.

U.S. application Ser. No. 13/473,113, now published as U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0094544, which was filed May 16, 2012 discloses a method and system that utilizes MIMO communication in a network of distributed transceivers with array processing and is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirely.

The mobile communication device 310 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to communicate with one or more of the distributed transceivers in the mobile entities. In this regard, the mobile communication device 310 may be operable to communicate with one or more of the distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, 301 f, . . . , 301 n, 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, . . . , 304 n, 307 a, 307 b, 307 c, . . . , 307 n, which are located within the mobile entities 301, 304, 307, respectively. The mobile communication device 310 may be operable to communicate utilizing, for example, WWAN, WMAN, WLAN, WPAN and/or mmWave technologies, standards and/or protocols. Exemplary, WWAN technologies, standards and/or protocols may comprise 3G, 4G, LTE, and/or WiMax. Exemplary WLAN technologies, standards and/or protocols may comprise an IEEE 802.11 based standard such as 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/p/q and/or variants thereof. Exemplary mmWave technologies, standards and/or protocols may comprise 60 GHz wireless standard, IEEE 802.11ad, WirelessHD and/or WiGig.

The central processor 311 in the mobile communication device 310 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to control and/or manage operation of the plurality of distributed transceivers in the mobile communication device 310. In this regard, the central processor 311 may be operable to control and/or manage operation of the plurality of distributed transceivers 310 a, . . . , 310 n, respectively. The central processor 311 may be operable to configure and/or manage the communication links that are handled by the mobile communication device 310. In this regard, the central processor 311 may be operable to monitor and/or collect information from each of the plurality of distributed transceivers 310 a, . . . , 310 n, respectively, and may communicate data associated with the monitoring and/or collecting to one or more of the network management engines 302, 305 and/or the coordinating entity 312, to which the mobile communication device 310 may be communicatively coupled. One or more of the network management engines 302, 305 and/or the coordinating entity 312 may be operable to utilize the resulting communicated data to configure the operation of one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n, 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, . . . , 304 n and/or their corresponding plurality of antenna arrays. The central processor 311 in the mobile communication device 310 may be substantially similar to the central processor 206, which is shown and described with respect to FIG. 2, for example.

The coordinating entity 312, which may be optional, may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to control, coordinate and/or manage the handling and routing of traffic and/or control data within the communication network 300. The coordinating entity 312 may be operable to control the type and/or amount of links, the number of distributed transceivers, configuration of the distributed transceivers' interfaces and/or components including RF front ends and/or antenna arrays, which may be utilized by one or more of the distributed transceivers to handle traffic for one or more of the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 and/or the mobile communication device 310. The coordinating entity 312 may be operable to control the allocation and de-allocation of bandwidth to facilitate communication of traffic in order to provide and/or guarantee a particular class of service (CoS) and/or Quality of Service (QoS) for the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 and/or the mobile communication device 310. The coordinating entity 312 may also be operable to coordinate amongst the various access devices in the WWAN 322 and/or the WLAN 324 and the network management engines and/or the central processors in the mobile entities and/or mobile communication devices in order to route traffic within the communication network 300 Although the coordinating entity 312 is illustrated as a separate entity within the network 300, the invention is not limited in this regard. Accordingly, the coordinating entity 312 may logically or physically reside as separate components or devices and/or located within other components or devices within the network 300. For example, the coordinating entity 312 may be located in and/or within devices within the WWAN 322, the WLAN 324, the Internet 326 and/or the cloud network 328. For example, the coordinating entity 312 may be located in the base stations 112 a, 112 b, . . . , 112 n, of the WWAN 112, which are shown and described with respect to FIG. 1. In another example, the coordinating entity 312 may be located in the access points 114 a, 114 b, . . . , 114 n, of the WLAN 114, which are shown and described with respect to FIG. 1. In some embodiments of the invention, the functionality of the coordinating entity 312 may be split amongst a plurality of devices within the network 300.

The satellite network 320 may be operable to convey content to a plurality of receiving devices via one or more satellites. In this regard, satellites in the satellite network 320 may be operable to broadcast content, which may received by one or more of the mobile entities 301, 304, 307. One or more of the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 may be operable to process and/or communicate the received content to others of the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 and/or the mobile communication device 310. The satellite network 320 may be substantially similar to the satellite network 110, which is shown and described with respect to FIG. 1, for example.

The WWAN 322 may comprise suitable logic, interfaces and/or devices that may be operable to provide wide area wireless connectivity. In this regard, the wireless wide area network 322 may enable communication via one or more WWAN based standards and/or protocols such as 3G, 4G, LTE and WiMax. Content from one or more of the Internet 326, the cloud network 328, the WWAN 322 and/or the WLAN 324 may be wirelessly communicated among one or more of the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 and/or the mobile communication device 310. The WWAN 322 may be substantially similar to the WWAN 112, which is shown and described with respect to FIG. 1.

The WLAN 324 may comprise suitable logic, interfaces and/or devices that may be operable to provide local area wireless connectivity. In this regard, the WLAN 324 may enable communication via IEEE 802.11 based standards and/or protocols such as 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/p/q and/or variants thereof. The WLAN 324 may be substantially similar to the wireless local area network 114, which is shown and described with respect to FIG. 1, for example.

The Internet 326 may comprise suitable devices and/or interfaces that enable the interconnection of a plurality of networks and/or devices. In this regard, the Internet 116 may enable the interconnection of, for example, the satellite network 320, the WWAN 322, the WLAN 324, and/or the cloud network 328. The Internet 326 may host a plurality of resources and provide a plurality of Internet-based services. The Internet 326 may be substantially similar to the Internet 116, which is shown and described with respect to FIG. 1, for example.

The cloud network 328 may comprise suitable devices and/or interfaces that is operable to provide one or more services to, for example, the satellite network 320, the WWAN 322, the WLAN 324, the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 and/or to the mobile communication device 310. In this regard, the cloud network 328 may, for example, provide storage of information, hosting of information and/or other cloud based services for the satellite network 320, the WWAN 322, the WLAN 324, mobile entities 301, 304, 307 and/or the mobile communication device 310 via the Internet 326. The cloud network 328 may be communicatively coupled to the Internet 326 via the communication link. The cloud network 328 may be substantially similar to the cloud network 118, which is shown and described with respect to FIG. 1, for example.

One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers which may be internal and/or external to a mobile entity may be configured to operating in, for example, a relay mode. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n may be communicatively coupled to the WWAN 322 and one or more remaining ones of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n may be communicatively coupled to one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 307 a, 307 b, 307 c, . . . , 307 n in the mobile entity 307. For example, the distributed transceivers 301 b, 301 c in the mobile entity 301 may be communicatively coupled to the WWAN 322 and distributed transceivers 301 e, 301 n in the mobile entity 301 may be communicatively coupled to the distributed transceivers 307 b, 301 c in the mobile entity 307. In this regard, the distributed transceivers 301 b, 301 c in the mobile entity 301 may receive content from the cloud network 328 via the WWAN 322 and the distributed transceivers 301 e, 301 n in the mobile entity 301 may be operable to relay the content to the distributed transceivers 307 b, 307 c in the mobile entity 307. In this regard, the central processors 303, 309 and/or the network management engines 302, 308 in the mobile entities 301, 307, respectively, may be operable to coordinate the relay operation including the carrier frequency and/or frequencies, beam patterns, modulations, security, and/or power levels that may be utilized by one or more of the distributed transceivers 301 b, 301 c, 301 e, 301 n, 307 b, 307 c.

In another example, the distributed transceivers 301 b, 301 c in the mobile entity 301 may be communicatively coupled to the WLAN 324 and distributed transceivers 301 d in the mobile entity 301 may be communicatively coupled to the distributed transceivers 304 a in the mobile entity 304. In this regard, the distributed transceivers 301 b, 301 c in the mobile entity 301 may receive content from the Internet 326 via the WLAN 324 and the distributed transceivers 301 d in the mobile entity 301 may be operable to relay the content to the distributed transceivers 304 a in the mobile entity 307. In this regard, the central processors 303, 306 and/or the network management engines 302, 305 in the mobile entities 301, 304, respectively may be operable to coordinate the relay operation including the carrier frequency and/or frequencies, beam patterns, modulations, security, and/or power levels that may be utilized by one or more of the distributed transceivers 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 304 a. In this regard, in instances where the mobile entity 301 may be located outside a home having the WLAN 324, the mobile entity 301 may be operable to function as a relay node between the access points that may be within WLAN 324 and the mobile entity 304.

In another example, the distributed transceivers 301 b, 301 c in the mobile entity 301 may be communicatively coupled to the WWAN 322 and distributed transceivers 301 e, 301 n in the mobile entity 301 may be communicatively coupled to the distributed transceivers 310 a, 310 n in the mobile communication device 310. In this regard, the distributed transceivers 301 b, 301 c in the mobile entity 301 may receive content from the Internet 326 via the WWAN 322 and the distributed transceivers 301 e, 301 n in the mobile entity 301 may be operable to relay the content to the distributed transceivers 310 a, 310 n in the mobile communication device 310. In this regard, the central processors 303, 311 and/or the network management engine 302 in the mobile entities 301, 310 respectively, may be operable to coordinate the relay operation including the carrier frequency and/or frequencies, beam patterns, modulations, security, and/or power levels that may be utilized by one or more of the distributed transceivers 301 b, 301 c, 301 e, 301 n, 310 a, 310 n.

In accordance with various embodiment of the invention, the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 may be operable to utilize different carrier frequencies, modulations, constellations, encoding and/or protocols for one or more connections to the base stations in the WWAN 322, to the access points in the WLAN 324, to the mobile device 310. For example, the communication links coupling the mobile entity 301 and one or more base stations in the WWAN 322 and/or one or more access points in the WLAN 324 may utilize 2 GHz, 5 GHz or 60 GHz carrier frequencies, as well as WLAN or LTE protocols. Similarly, the communication links coupling the one or more of the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 to the mobile communication device 310 may utilize 2 GHz, 5 GHz or 60 GHz carrier frequencies and/or may reuse the same frequency as the one used to communicate with one or more base stations in the WWAN 322. Wireless personal area network (WPAN) such as Bluetooth and ZigBee and/or WLAN protocols may also be utilized.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, usage of one or more of the distributed transceivers in a mobile entity may be shared. For example, in instances where the mobile entity 301 may be a privately owned automobile, communication links to one or more of the transceivers within the mobile entity 301 may be limited to a list of mobile communication devices that are owned and/or authorized by the owner of the mobile entity 301. In instances where the mobile entity 301 may be a publicly owned automobile, such as a taxi or a bus, communication links to one or more of the transceivers within the mobile entity 301 may be limited to authorized users of the bus or may be opened to the general public. In instances where the mobile entity 301 may be a privately owned automobile, the owner of the mobile entity 301 may receive incentives from the WWAN carriers to allow the network management engine 302 and/or the coordinating entity 312 to utilize one or more of the distributed transceivers in the mobile entity 301 to provide communication to other users or customers of the WWAN carrier in instances when they may be within operating range of the mobile entity 301. Exemplary incentives may comprise a bill credit, bill discount, higher data cap, higher data rate, reciprocal subscriber usage, cash rebate, and so on.

In some embodiments of the invention, the network management engines 302, 305, 308 and/or the coordinating entity 312 may be operable to configure one or more distributed transceivers in a mobile entity to backhaul traffic to one or more of the communication networks 330. For example, the coordinating entity 312 and/or the network management engine 2 d transceivers 301 b, 301 c in a mobile entity 301 to backhaul traffic to the WWAN 322. In this regard, the coordinating entity 312 and/or the network management engine 302 may be operable to coordinate the resources for the distributed transceivers 301 b, 301 c to provide a high bandwidth backhaul communication link to the WWAN 322. The high bandwidth backhaul communication link to the WWAN 322 may be established whenever it may be needed and its resources may be reallocated whenever there is no longer a need for the high bandwidth backhaul communication link to the WWAN 322. In various embodiments of the invention, backhaul communication links may be established between a plurality of mobile entities having sufficient available bandwidth in order to convey traffic from, for example, a mobile communication device such as the mobile communication device 310 to one or more of the communication networks 330

In some embodiments of the invention, the network management entity 302 and/or the coordinating entity 312 may be operable to establish a backhaul communication link to the WWAN 322 as a virtual private network in order to provide security, privacy and/or anonymity.

In some embodiments of the invention, the network management entity 302 and/or the coordinating entity 312 may be operable to assign different traffic types and/or classes to different types of communication links being handled by the distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n. For example, at least a portion of the communication of control data and/or settings between the mobile entity 301 and the networks 300 may be transported through one or more base stations in the WWAN 322 because of its higher reliability of, for example, the LTE or WWAN communication link, while high throughput streaming traffic may be transported over satellite communication links between the satellite network 320 and one or more of the distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n in the mobile entity 301.

In some embodiments of the invention, the network management engines 302, 305, 308 and/or the coordinating entity 312 may be operable to co-optimize the network configurations for the mobile entities 301, 304, 307, respectively. In this regard, the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 may function as, for example, distributed access points and/or network nodes that may be operable to provide high throughput links to a group of mobile communication devices such as the mobile communication device 310. The distributed access points and/or network nodes provided by the mobile entities 301, 304, 307 may operate in a manner that may be substantially similar to the access points and distributed transceivers, which are illustrated and described with respect to FIG. 1, for example.

In some embodiments of the invention, a mobile entity such as the mobile entity 301, with distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 201 c, 301 d, 301 e, . . . , 301 n may be utilized to provide high-speed broadband wireless connectivity to fixed devices such as access points and/or routers. For example, when the mobile entity 301 and/or mobile entity 304 may be close to a house and/or an office, the mobile entities 301, 304 may be utilized as a relay node to provide connection to the routers and/or gateways within the home and/or the office. In this regard, the router and/or gateway in the home and/or office may connect to the Internet either through existing wire-line connections such as cable modem, DSL, dial up, or the wireless connection provided by one or both of the mobile entities 301, 304. This multi-mode router and/or gateway may use the two connection types (wired and/or wireless) exclusively or concurrently based on parameters such as time of day, availability of mobile entities, peak throughout demand, achievable throughput through DSL/cable-modem, congestion in any of networks, and time-based billing policies.

In some embodiments of the invention, a mobile entity such as the mobile entity 301 may be operable to share its position and/or speed data. In this regard, the mobile entity 301, which may be functioning as a relay, may be operable to provide connectivity to one or more mobile communication devices and may communicate or otherwise share its position and/or speed data to those mobile communication devices. The mobile communication devices may then utilize the position and/or speed data from the mobile entity to improve their overall positioning accuracy and/or to switch off their internal positioning methods such as GNSS to conserve battery power. Exemplary position and/or speed data may be derived from GNSS, speedometer, motion sensing devices and/or other positioning devices and/or techniques in the mobile entity 301.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for communicating utilizing distributed transceivers in a mobile entity, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4, there are shown exemplary steps 402 through 408. In step 402, a mode of operation and/or configuration for one or more transceivers in a mobile entity to handle communication of one or more data streams may be determined. In step 404, one or more of the distributed transceivers in the mobile entity and/or one or more corresponding antenna arrays may be configured based on the determined mode of operation and/or configuration. In step 406, the one or more data streams may be communicated utilizing the configured one or more of the distributed transceivers in the mobile entity and/or the one or more corresponding antenna arrays. In step 408, one or more of the transceivers may be dynamically and/or adaptively adjusted in the mobile entity to utilize, for example, different modulation schemes, constellations, protocols, frequencies, wireless standards and/or bandwidths to handle communication of one or more of the data streams.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for communicating utilizing distributed transceivers in a mobile entity, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 5, there are shown exemplary steps 502 through 508. In step 502, a current location, speed, acceleration of a mobile entity may be determined. In step 504, based on the determined current location, speed, acceleration of the mobile entity, a trajectory of the mobile entity may be determined or predicted. In step 506, a configuration and/or a mode of operation for one or more of the distributed transceivers and/or one or more corresponding antenna arrays for the mobile entity may be determined based on the determined trajectory and/or based on a prior and/or current configuration of the one or more of the distributed transceivers and/or one or more corresponding antenna arrays. In step 508, one or more of the transceivers and/or corresponding antenna arrays for the mobile entity may be dynamically and/or adaptively adjusted to utilize, for example, different modulation schemes, constellations, protocols, frequencies, wireless standards and/or bandwidths to handle communication of one or more of the data streams based on the determined configuration and/or mode of operation.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for communicating utilizing distributed transceivers in a mobile entity, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 6, there are shown exemplary steps 602 through 610. In step 602, bandwidth requirements for handling communication of one or more data streams for one or more mobile entities may be determined. In step 604, a mode of operation and/or configuration for one or more transceivers in one or more mobile entities may be configured to handle communication of the one or more data streams. In step 606, one or more of the distributed transceivers and/or one or more corresponding antenna arrays in the one or more mobile entities may be configured based on the determined mode of operation and/or configuration. In step 608, one or more of the distributed transceivers and/or one or more corresponding antenna arrays in the one or more of the mobile entities may be configured to operate as one or more backhaul communication links. In step 610, the one or more data streams may be communicated utilizing the configured one or more of the distributed transceivers and/or corresponding antenna arrays via the configured one or more backhaul communication links.

In various exemplary aspects of the invention, a plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, 301 f, . . . , 301 n and/or one or more corresponding antenna arrays, which may be communicatively coupled to one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, 301 f, . . . , 301 n, may be configured to handle communication of one or more data streams among one or more of a plurality of wireless communication networks 330, one or more other mobile entities 304, 307 and/or one or more mobile communication devices 310. The one or more data streams may be communicated utilizing the configured one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, 301 f, . . . , 301 n and/or the one or more corresponding antenna arrays. The mobile entity may comprise a car, a truck, an omnibus (bus), a trailer, a mobile home, train, bus, a forklift, construction equipment, a boat, a ship, an aircraft or any other vehicle. The plurality of wireless communication networks 330 may comprise a satellite network 320, a wireless wide area network 322, a wireless medium area network, a wireless local area network 324, a wireless personal area network, Internet 326 and/or network cloud 328. Configuring of the one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, 301 f, . . . , 301 n and/or the one or more corresponding antenna arrays may be controlled from a component and/or within one or more of the mobile entity 301, the one or more other mobile entities 304, 307, the one or more mobile communication devices 310 and/or one or more of the wireless communication networks 330.

In some embodiments of the invention, one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 f, 301 e, . . . , 301 n may be configured to operate as a relay node and/or a repeater node. A location, speed and/or trajectory of the mobile entity 301 may be determined and one or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, 301 f, . . . , 301 n and/or one or more corresponding antenna arrays may be configured based on the determined location, speed and/or trajectory. One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, 301 f, . . . , 301 n may be dynamically and/or adaptively controlled to utilize one or more modes of operation to communicate the one or more data streams and/or to split the communication of the one or more data streams amongst a portion of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, 301 f, . . . , 301 n. The modes of operation may comprise a spatial diversity mode, a frequency diversity mode, a spatial multiplexing mode, a frequency multiplexing mode and/or a MIMO mode. One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers in a mobile entity such as the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, 301 e, . . . , 301 n in the mobile entity 301 may be operable to operate in a relay and/or repeater mode.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, traffic may be backhauled from the mobile entity 301 and/or the one or more other mobile entities 304, 307 via one or more wireless communication links to one or more of the plurality of wireless communication networks. One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers in the mobile entity 301 and/or the one or more other mobile entities 304, 307 may be configured to utilize different types of communication links to handle different types of data traffic. One or more of the plurality of distributed transceivers 301 a, 301 b, 301 c, 301 d, 301 e, 301 f, . . . , 301 n in the mobile entity 301 and/or one or more of a plurality of distributed transceivers 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, . . . , 304 n, 307 a, 307 b, 307 c, . . . , 307 n in the one or more other mobile entities 304, 307, respectively, may be configured to utilize different modulation schemes, constellations, protocols, frequencies, wireless standards and/or bandwidths to handle the communication of the one or more data streams.

As utilized herein the terms “circuits” and “circuitry” refer to physical electronic components (i.e. hardware) and any software and/or firmware (“code”) which may configure the hardware, be executed by the hardware, and or otherwise be associated with the hardware. As used herein, for example, a particular processor and memory may comprise a first “circuit” when executing a first one or more lines of code and may comprise a second “circuit” when executing a second one or more lines of code. As utilized herein, “and/or” means any one or more of the items in the list joined by “and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means any element of the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As another example, “x, y, and/or z” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y), (z), (x, y), (x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. As utilized herein, the term “exemplary” means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, or illustration. As utilized herein, the terms “e.g.,” and “for example” set off lists of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, or illustrations. As utilized herein, circuitry is “operable” to perform a function whenever the circuitry comprises the necessary hardware and code (if any is necessary) to perform the function, regardless of whether performance of the function is disabled, or not enabled, by some user-configurable setting.

Other embodiments of the invention may provide a computer readable device and/or a non-transitory computer readable medium, and/or a machine readable device and/or a non-transitory machine readable medium, having stored thereon, a machine code and/or a computer program having at least one code section executable by a machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machine and/or computer to perform the steps as described herein for distributed transceivers and mobile connectivity.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. The present invention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least one computer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware and software may be a general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the present invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of communicating data between a mobile communication device and a plurality of mobile entities, the mobile communication device and each of the plurality of mobile communication entities comprising a plurality of distributed transceivers, each distributed transceiver comprising a corresponding antenna array comprising a plurality of antennas, the method comprising: receiving one or more data streams at a first mobile entity of the plurality of mobile entities; configuring one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first mobile entity based on at least one of a current location of the first mobile entity and a speed of the first mobile entity to transmit the received one or more data streams to a second mobile entity of the plurality of mobile entities; configuring one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the second mobile entity based on at least one of a current location of the second mobile entity and a speed of the second mobile entity to: receive the one or more data streams from said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first mobile entity; and transmit said one or more data streams to the mobile communication device; and configuring one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the mobile communication device to receive said one or more data streams transmitted from said one or more distributed transceivers and said corresponding antenna arrays of the second mobile entity.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of said first and second mobile entities comprise one of a car, a truck, an omnibus, a bus, a trailer, a mobile home, train, bus, a forklift, construction equipment, a boat, a ship, and an aircraft.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first mobile entity receives said one or more data streams from one or more wireless communication networks comprising a satellite network, a wireless wide area network, a wireless medium area network, a wireless local area network, a wireless personal area network and the Internet.
 4. The method according to claim 1 further comprising controlling said configuring of said one or more distributed transceivers and said corresponding antenna arrays of the first mobile entity, the second mobile entity, and the mobile communication device from a component within one or more of said first and second mobile entities, said mobile communication device and said wireless communication network.
 5. The method according to claim 1 further comprising configuring said one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers of the second mobile entity to operate as one of a relay node and a repeater node.
 6. The method according to claim 1 further comprising: determining a trajectory of said first mobile entity; wherein configuring said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first mobile entity further comprises configuring said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first and second mobile entities based on said determined trajectory.
 7. The method according to claim 1 further comprising dynamically and adaptively controlling said plurality of distributed transceivers of the mobile communication device and said plurality of distributed transceivers of the first and second mobile entities to utilize one or more modes of operation to communicate said one or more data streams, wherein said one or more modes of operation comprises a spatial diversity mode, a frequency diversity mode, a spatial multiplexing mode, a frequency multiplexing mode and a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) mode.
 8. The method according to claim 1 further comprising backhauling traffic from one or more of said first and second mobile entities via one or more wireless communication links to one or more wireless communication networks.
 9. The method according to claim 1 further comprising configuring one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers in said first and second mobile entities to utilize different types of communication links to handle different types of data traffic.
 10. The method according to claim 1 further comprising configuring one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers in said first and second mobile entities to utilize different one or more of modulation schemes, constellations, protocols, frequencies, wireless standards and bandwidths to handle communication of said one or more data streams.
 11. A system, comprising: a mobile communication device comprising a plurality of distributed transceivers, each distributed transceiver comprising a corresponding antenna array comprising a plurality of antennas; and a plurality of mobile entities comprising first and second mobile entities, each of the plurality of mobile entities comprising a plurality of distributed transceivers, each distributed transceiver comprising a corresponding antenna array comprising a plurality of antennas; the first mobile entity configured to: receive one or more data streams; configure one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first mobile entity based on at least one of a current location of the first mobile entity and a speed of the first mobile entity to transmit the received one or more data streams to a second mobile entity of the plurality of mobile entities; the second mobile entity configured to: receive the one or more data streams from said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first mobile entity; and configure one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the second mobile entity based on at least one of a current location of the second mobile entity and a speed of the second mobile entity to transmit said one or more data streams to the mobile communication device; and one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the mobile communication device configured to receive said one or more data streams transmitted from said one or more distributed transceivers and said corresponding antenna arrays of the second mobile entity.
 12. The system according to claim 11, wherein each of said first and second mobile entities comprise one of a car, a truck, an omnibus, a bus, a trailer, a mobile home, train, bus, a forklift, construction equipment, a boat, a ship, and an aircraft.
 13. The system according to claim 11, wherein the first mobile entity is further configured to receive said one or more data streams from one or more wireless communication networks comprising a satellite network, a wireless wide area network, a wireless medium area network, a wireless local area network, a wireless personal area network and the Internet.
 14. The system according to claim 11, wherein said configuration of said one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and said corresponding antenna arrays of the first and second mobile entities and the mobile communication device is controlled from a component within one or more of said mobile entity, said plurality of mobile entities, said mobile communication device and one or more wireless communication networks.
 15. The system according to claim 11, wherein said one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers of the second mobile entity is configured to operate as one of a relay node and a repeater node.
 16. The system according to claim 11, wherein a trajectory of said first mobile entity is determined; and wherein configuring said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first mobile entity further comprises configuring said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first and second mobile entities based on said determined trajectory.
 17. The system according to claim 11, wherein said plurality of distributed transceivers of the mobile communication device and said plurality of distributed transceivers of the first and second mobile entities are dynamically and adaptively controlled to utilize one or more modes of operation to communicate said one or more data streams, wherein said one or more modes of operation comprises a spatial diversity mode, a frequency diversity mode, a spatial multiplexing mode, a frequency multiplexing mode and a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) mode.
 18. The system according to claim 11, wherein traffic from one or more of said first and second mobile entities are backhauled via one or more wireless communication links to one or more wireless communication networks.
 19. The system according to claim 11, wherein one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers in said first and second mobile entities is configured to utilize different types of communication links to handle different types of data traffic.
 20. The system according to claim 11, wherein one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers in said first and second mobile entities is configured to utilize one or more modulation schemes, constellations, protocols, frequencies, wireless standards and bandwidths to handle communication of said one or more data streams.
 21. The system according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of mobile entities further comprises a set of mobile entities other than said first and second mobile entities, wherein one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first mobile entity are configured to receive said one or more data streams from one or more mobile entities in the set of mobile entities.
 22. The system according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of mobile entities further comprises a set of mobile entities other than said first and second mobile entities, wherein one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first mobile entity are configured to receive said one or more data streams from one or more mobile entities in the set of mobile entities, wherein at least one of said one or more mobile entities in the set of mobile entities is installed at a fixed location.
 23. The system according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of mobile entities further comprises a third mobile entity, wherein said one or more data streams is a first set of data streams, the third mobile entity configured to: receive a second set of one or more data streams; and configure one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the third mobile entity to transmit said second set of data streams to the mobile communication device, one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the mobile communication device configured to receive said second set of data streams transmitted from said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the third mobile entity.
 24. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of mobile entities further comprises a set of mobile entities other than said first and second mobile entities, the method further comprising configuring one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first mobile entity to receive said one or more data streams from one or more mobile entities in the set of mobile entities.
 25. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of mobile entities further comprises a set of mobile entities other than said first and second mobile entities, the method further comprising configuring one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first mobile entity to receive said one or more data streams from one or more mobile entities in the set of mobile entities, wherein at least one of said one or more mobile entities in the set of mobile entities is installed at a fixed location.
 26. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of mobile entities further comprises a third mobile entity, wherein said one or more data streams is a first set of data streams, the method further comprising: configuring the third mobile entity to: receive a second set of one or more data streams; and configure one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the third mobile entity to transmit said second set of data streams to the mobile communication device; and configuring one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the mobile communication device to receive said second set of data streams transmitted from said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the third mobile entity.
 27. A method of communicating data between a mobile communication device and a plurality of communication entities, the mobile communication device and each of the plurality of communication entities comprising a plurality of distributed transceivers, each distributed transceiver comprising a corresponding antenna array comprising a plurality of antennas, the method comprising: receiving one or more data streams at a first communication entity of the plurality of communication entities; configuring one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first communication entity to transmit the received one or more data streams to a second communication entity of the plurality of communication entities; configuring one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the second communication entity to: receive the one or more data streams from said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first communication entity; and transmit said one or more data streams to the mobile communication device; and configuring one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the mobile communication device to receive said one or more data streams transmitted from said one or more distributed transceivers and said corresponding antenna arrays of the second communication entity, wherein at least one of said first and second communication entities are a mobile communication entity, wherein configuring said one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and said corresponding antenna arrays of said at least one mobile communication entity comprises configuring the one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and said corresponding antenna arrays of said at least one mobile communication entity based on at least one of a current location of said mobile communication entity and a speed of said mobile communication entity.
 28. The method according to claim 27, wherein said at least one mobile communication entity comprises one of a car, a truck, an omnibus, a bus, a trailer, a mobile home, train, bus, a forklift, construction equipment, a boat, a ship, and an aircraft.
 29. The method according to claim 27, wherein the first communication entity receives said one or more data streams from one or more wireless communication networks comprising a satellite network, a wireless wide area network, a wireless medium area network, a wireless local area network, a wireless personal area network and the Internet.
 30. The method according to claim 27 further comprising configuring said one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers of the second communication entity to operate as one of a relay node and a repeater node.
 31. The method according to claim 27 further comprising: determining a trajectory of said at least one mobile communication entity; wherein configuring said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of said at least one mobile communication entity further comprises configuring said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of said at least one mobile communication entity based on said determined trajectory.
 32. The method according to claim 27 further comprising dynamically and adaptively controlling said plurality of distributed transceivers of the mobile communication device and said plurality of distributed transceivers of the first and second communication entities to utilize one or more modes of operation to communicate said one or more data streams, wherein said one or more modes of operation comprises a spatial diversity mode, a frequency diversity mode, a spatial multiplexing mode, a frequency multiplexing mode and a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) mode.
 33. The method according to claim 27 further comprising backhauling traffic from one or more of said first and second communication entities via one or more wireless communication links one or more wireless communication networks.
 34. The method according to claim 27, wherein the plurality of communication entities further comprises a set of communication entities other than said first and second communication entities, the method further comprising configuring one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first communication entity to receive said one or more data streams from one or more communication entities in the set of communication entities, wherein at least one of said one or more communication entities in the set of communication entities is installed at a fixed location.
 35. The method according to claim 27, wherein the plurality of communication entities further comprises a third communication entity, wherein said one or more data streams is a first set of data streams, the method further comprising: configuring the third communication entity to: receive a second set of one or more data streams; and configure one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the third communication entity to transmit said second set of data streams to the mobile communication device; and configuring one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the mobile communication device to receive said second set of data streams transmitted from said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the third communication entity.
 36. A system, comprising: a mobile communication device comprising a plurality of distributed transceivers, each distributed transceiver comprising a corresponding antenna array comprising a plurality of antennas; and a plurality of communication entities comprising first and second communication entities, each of the plurality of communication entities comprising a plurality of distributed transceivers, each distributed transceiver comprising a corresponding antenna array comprising a plurality of antennas; the first communication entity configured to: receive one or more data streams at a first communication entity of the plurality of communication entities; configure one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first communication entity to transmit the received one or more data streams to a second communication entity of the plurality of communication entities; the second communication entity configured to: receive the one or more data streams from said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first communication entity; and transmit said one or more data streams to the mobile communication device; and one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the mobile communication device is configured to receive said one or more data streams transmitted from said one or more distributed transceivers and said corresponding antenna arrays of the second communication entity, wherein at least one of said first and second communication entities are a mobile communication entity, wherein configuring said one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and said corresponding antenna arrays of said at least one mobile communication entity comprises configuring the one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and said corresponding antenna arrays of said at least one mobile communication entity based on at least one of a current location of said mobile communication entity and a speed of said mobile communication entity.
 37. The system according to claim 36, wherein said at least one mobile communication entity comprises one of a car, a truck, an omnibus, a bus, a trailer, a mobile home, train, bus, a forklift, construction equipment, a boat, a ship, and an aircraft.
 38. The system according to claim 36, wherein the first communication entity is further configured to receive said one or more data streams from one or more wireless communication networks comprising a satellite network, a wireless wide area network, a wireless medium area network, a wireless local area network, a wireless personal area network and the Internet.
 39. The system according to claim 36 further comprising configuring said one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers of the second communication entity to operate as one of a relay node and a repeater node.
 40. The system according to claim 36 further comprising: determining a trajectory of said at least one mobile communication entity; wherein configuring said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of said at least one mobile communication entity further comprises configuring said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of said at least one mobile communication entity based on said determined trajectory.
 41. The system according to claim 36, wherein said plurality of distributed transceivers of the mobile communication device and said plurality of distributed transceivers of the first and second communication entities are dynamically and adaptively controlled to utilize one or more modes of operation to communicate said one or more data streams, wherein said one or more modes of operation comprises a spatial diversity mode, a frequency diversity mode, a spatial multiplexing mode, a frequency multiplexing mode and a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) mode.
 42. The system according to claim 36 further comprising backhauling traffic from one or more of said first and second communication entities via one or more wireless communication links to one or more wireless communication networks.
 43. The system according to claim 36, wherein the plurality of communication entities further comprises a set of communication entities other than said first and second communication entities, wherein said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the first communication entity are further configured to receive said one or more data streams from one or more communication entities in the set of communication entities, wherein at least one of said one or more communication entities in the set of communication entities is installed at a fixed location.
 44. The system according to claim 36, wherein the plurality of communication entities further comprises a third communication entity, wherein said one or more data streams is a first set of data streams, the third communication entity is configured to: receive a second set of one or more data streams; and configure one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the third communication entity to transmit said second set of data streams to the mobile communication device; and one or more of said plurality of distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the mobile communication device is configured to receive said second set of data streams transmitted from said one or more distributed transceivers and the corresponding antenna arrays of the third communication entity. 